JOSEPH SCHELB (1894-1977): Clarinet Quintet, Quartet for Clarinet, Viola, Cello and Piano, Quartet for Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano, Clarinet Sonata.

Description: Schelb’s response to having his entire corpus of work destroyed in a 1942 bombing of Karlsruhe was to write 150 more pieces after the end of the war. Two of those recorded here use serial procedures (the 1947 sonata and the 1965 quartet for clarinet and piano trio) while the 1954 quintet may suggest Hindemith in its terseness and energy and there’s a strong sense of the light and darkness of Poulenc in the other quartet from 1955. But there is always an intelligence, wit and originality that make one want to hear his orchestral works also. Busch Kollegium Karlsruhe.